Container with evacuated closure



June 19, 1 951 L; G. GERSQN 2,557,648

CONTAINER WITH EVACUATED CLOSURE Filed June 26, .1946

v/A 1%; W2 1 v Vi V kyi igm IIl/lllllll! p v INVENTOR LAURENCE'G. GERsoN72h ATTORNEY.

rllllllllllllllllllllll Patented June 19, 1951 NITED STATES 8 Claims.

My invention relates to an improved type of closure for vessels.

My invention is to provide a closure for vessels which closure resultsin the rarification or dilution of air remaining in a vessel immediatelyupon the insertion and installation of such closure and without anyfurther operation.

My invention further provides a closure for vessels which closureresults in the charging of any content immediately upon the insertionand installation of such closure and without any further operation.

The closure according to my invention is provided with a chamber or bulbwhich is subsequently opened to the interior of the vessel.

The object of my invention is to provide a means by which the chambersection of the closure is fractured and opened to the interior of avessel as part of the insertion or installation operation.

It is not an infrequent occurrence for an individual to open a containerof chemicals, particularly medicines, use the desired amount and then beobliged to discard the remaining contents of the container. Thisrejection is a necessity because, Where the container was originallyfilled with the chemical, it now has a comparatively large amount of airtrapped in contact with the chemical. Consequent decomposition of thechemical is likely to occur when the chemical is exposed for aprotracted period of time to the fresh and relatively large amount ofair. The possibility of decomposition of a chemical may render furtheruse of the containers contents dangerous. Hence, the remaining contentsare discarded. The elimination of this wasteful, but heretoforenecessary procedure is an object of my invention. When a bottlecontaining a sub stance unstable in the presence of air is opened foruse, it is a simple matter to apply a cover, constructed according to myinvention, to the bottle and thus retard or eliminate decomposition andmake the bottle contents available for subsequent use.

A further object of my invention is to provide a cover which acts firstto seal the container and then to rarefy the air in said container.

The bulb can be filled with an inert gas like nitrogen which would alsoserve to dilute the oxygen content of the air over the substance in thebottle. Or it might be desirable to have a substance in the bulb whichwould chemically react with the contents of the container.

If the bulb is charged with carbon dioxide, a simple carbonating deviceresults.

These and other objects will be understood from the followingdescription, appended claims and accompanying drawings in which:

The closure is to be made of any frangible material, a plastic being themost logical.

Figure l is a longitudinal sectional view of the closure as partiallyinstalled on the vessel.

Figure 2 is a partial view of the closure fully installed on the vesselshowing the throat of the vessel as having fractured and opened theclosure.

Figure 3 is substantially a transverse view of a modified form of theclosure.

Referring to Figures 1 and 3, vessel i0 is a conventional design havinga throat H threaded to receive the closure l2. Closure l2 carries ahermetically sealed chamber or bulb I3 which is part of the completeclosure. Chamber l3 has protrusions projecting outward as indicated byM. Interposed between the closure and the throat I5 is a washer I! madeof rubber or the like. The contents of vessel IE] are represented by i8.I 6 represents one of many points for activating and then sealing thebulb. As the closure :2 is installed on the vessel It), washer I"! firstmakes contact with the closure I2 and the vessel Ill. Furtherinstallation of the closure I2 forces the throat or neck 15 against theprotrusions Hi. The pressure of the throat I5 against the protrusions Itcauses the closure to automatically fracture and open at point 49 asshown in Figure 2. This novel means of fracturing the closure thereforerequires no other effect or outside aid than that of installing theclosure on the vessel in the same manner as any conventional bottle capsince the fracturing is done entirely automatically by the vessel duringthe.

process of installing the closure.

As is evident from these ,drawings all fracturing is done automaticallywithin the vessel during the process of installing the closure.

It is understood that changes may be made in arrangements and proportionof parts, and equivalents may be substituted without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A vessel having air and some contents therein; a closure for saidvessel said closure made of a frangible material, and said closurecomprising a threaded cap to fit over the throat of said vessel so as tomake an airtight seal, and having a hermetically sealed chamber chargedwith a gaseous element depending from said cap which chamber is insertedin said vessel, and said chamher having external protrusions around aportion of its side wall said protrusions projecting outward forengagement with the interior wall of the throat of said vessel so thatduring the process of installing said closure on said vessel the throatof said vessel is caused to exert pressure against said protrusionscausing the wall of said chamber to automatically fracture and open tothe interior of said vessel.

2. A vessel having air and some contents therein; a closure for saidvessel made of a frangible material, and said closure comprising athreaded cap to fit over the throat of said vessel so as to make anairtight seal, and having a hermetically sealed evacuated chamberdepending from said cap which chamber is inserted in said vessel, andsaid chamber having external protrusions projecting outward forengagement with the interior wall of the throat of said vessel so thatduring the process of installing said closure on said vessel the throatof said vessel is caused to exert pressure against said protrusionscausing the wall of said chamber to automatically fracture and open tothe interior of said vessel.

3. A vessel having air and some contents therein; a closure for saidvessel said closure made of a frangible material, and said closurecomprising a hermetically sealed chamber charged with a gaseous element,which chamber is inserted in said vessel, and having a flange around oneend of it said flange to seal the throat of said vessel, and saidchamber having external protrusions around a portion of its side wallsaid protrusion projecting outward for engagement with the interior wallof the throat of said vessel so that during the process of installingsaid closure on said vessel the throat of said vessel is caused to exertpressure against said protrusions causing the wall of said chamber toautomatically fracture and open to the interior of said vessel.

4. A vessel having air and some contents therein; a closure for saidvessel said closure made of a frangible material, and said closurecomprising a hermetically sealed chamber evacuated of air, which chamberis inserted in said vessel, and having a flange around one end of itsaid flange to seal the throat of said vessel, and said chamber havingexternal protrusions around a portion of its side wall said protrusionsprojecting outward for engagement with the interior wall of the throatof said vessel so that during the process of installing said closure onsaid vessel the throat of said vessel is caused to exert pressureagainst said protrusions causing the wall of said chamber toautomatically fracture and open to the interior of said vessel.

5. A vessel having air and some contents therein; a closure for saidvessel said closure made of a frangible material, and said closurecomprising a hermetically sealed chamber charged with a gaseous element,which chamber is inserted in said vessel, and having a flange around oneend of it said flange to seal the throat of said vessel, and saidchamber having an external protrusion on a portion of its side wall saidprotrusion projecting outward for engagement with the interior wall ofthe throat of said vessel so that during the process of installing saidclosure on said vessel the throat of said vessel is caused to exertpressure against said protrusion causing the wall of said chamber toautomatically fracture and open to the interior of said vessel.

6. A vessel having air and some contents therein; a closure for saidvessel said closure made of a frangible material and said closurecomprising a hermetically sealed chamber evacuated of air, which chamberis inserted in said vessel, and having a flange around one end of it,said flange to seal the throat of said vessel, and said chamber havingan external protrusion on a portion of its side wall said protrusionprojecting outward for engagement with the interior wall of the throatof said vessel so that during the process of installing said closure onsaid vessel, the throat of said vessel is caused to exert pressureagainst said protrusion causing the wall of said chamber toautomatically fracture and open to the interior of said vessel.

7. A vessel having air and some contents therein; a closure for saidvessel made of a frangible material, and said closure comprising athreaded cap to fit over the throat of said vessel so as to make an airtight seal, and having a hermetically sealed chamber charged with agaseous element depending from said cap which chamber is inserted insaid vessel and said chamber having an external protrusion on a portionof its side wall said protrusion projecting outward for engagement withthe interior Wall of the throat of said vessel so that during theprocess of installing said closure on said vessel, the throat of saidvessel is caused to exert pressure against said protrusion causing thewall of said chamber to automatically fracture and open to the interiorof said vessel.

8. A vessel having air and some contents therein; a closure for saidvessel made of a frangible material, and said closure comprising athreaded cap to fit over the throat of said vessel so as to make anairtight seal, and having a hermetically sealed evacuated chamberdepending from said cap which chamber is inserted in said vessel andsaid chamber having an external protrusion on a portion of its side wallsaid protrusion projecting outward for engagement with the interior wallof the throat of said vessel so that during the process of installingsaid closure on said vessel the throat of said vessel is caused to exertpressure against said protrusion causing the wall of said chamber toautomatically fracture and open to the interior of said vessel.

LAURENCE G. GERSON.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Casey Oct. 30, 1945Number

